ROCKFORD — James Pickett spent years committing crimes and floating through the criminal justice system before understanding that he suffered from mental illness.

The 52-year-old Rockford resident, who’s also a Navy veteran, visited Rosecrance Health Network about three months ago, seeking treatment for his issues. It was there that he was diagnosed with manic depression, anti-social disorder and anxiety disorder.

Today, he serves on the Shelter Care Ministries board of directors and is a member of the Jubilee Center. He also hasn’t been locked up since 2008.

“All of my life, I never felt like I fit in anywhere,” Pickett said. “And I couldn’t understand what was going on with me. Sometimes I would be up here, and the next moment, I’d be down there.

“I took the chance, and I’m getting help with the medication and doing the things I need to do. It’s great. I’m glad that services are there for me.”

Pickett spoke as part of a rally this afternoon to kick off Mental Illness Awareness Week. In his brief presentation, he addressed the common hesitations people have with medications to treat mental illness and even singled out men, encouraging them to get checked out “so that we can get onto the road to recovery.”

The rally aims to educate people about the prevalence of mental illness and what mental health services are available in the community. One in four adults in the U.S. experiences mental illness in a given year, as do nearly 20 percent of children ages 13 to 18, according to the National Alliance on Mental Illinois Northern Illinois chapter.

The theme of this year’s Mental Illinois Awareness Week is “It’s Time.” NAMI Northern Illinois President Robin Garvey said there’s less of a stigma attached to mental illness today, but there’s still more education to be done.

“We need to have mental illness be part of our science curriculum in our schools,” Garvey said. “We need to start teaching kids from an early age what to look for and how to react to people if they have problems like how to be supportive and what to say.

“What we need to do is be accepting of people with mental illnesses and help them get treatment.”